1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a safety binding for releasably retaining an end of a boot, particularly its front end, mounted on a ski.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Front abutment safety bindings typically include a body mounted on a base which is affixed to the ski, wherein the body carries, at its rear portion, a retention jaw for the boot. The jaw includes two opposite lateral retention wings and an energization mechanism positioned within the body to elastically return the jaw to the engagement position. The energization mechanism includes a compressed energy spring supported at one end on a support surface connected to the body and, at its other end, on a force transmission element which is longitudinally movable within the body and is coupled to the jaw in a manner so as to elastically bias the jaw against the front of the boot, to ensure the retention thereof on the ski.
Among the presently known front abutment bindings are those which are described in German Pat. Nos. 35 39 969 and 33 43 943, which include a jaw having two lateral retention wings connected by a transverse member, the two wings being respectively journalled around two vertical axes on the rear portions of substantially longitudinal arms and which are themselves journalled, at their front ends, around two vertical axes. The two front journal axes of the two arms of the base of the front abutment binding, and the two rear movable axes connecting the jaw to the two arms constitute the four apices of a deformable isosceles trapezoid of which one base is defined by the two front fixed axes, and the other base by the two rear movable axes. The two lateral retention wings for the boot are normally maintained latched in the engagement position and they are unlatched, in the case of a lateral bias exceeding a predetermined value constituting the release threshold of the front abutment binding, after a predetermined deformation of the isosceles trapezoid. The wings are maintained in the engagement position by the energization mechanism of the binding.
Such a binding in which the jaw is displaced laterally in one direction or the other, as a single piece, until a position is reached in which the unlatching of the wings occurs, offers the advantage of reducing the frictional forces between the jaw and the boot, since the jaw accompanies the lateral movement of the boot. However, such a binding has disadvantages, namely, that the extent of lateral elastic movement of the jaw is reduced; that the energization mechanism of the jaw is independent of the unlatching mechanism of the wings, which results in a substantial number of elements; and that such a binding does not allow for a precise adjustment in height for adapting the jaw to boots having different sole thicknesses.